Question: Vanessa buys a basket of nectarines on sale for $\$25$ before tax. The sales tax is $17\%$. What is the total price Vanessa pays for the basket of nectarines? (Round to the nearest hundredth or cent.)
Solution: In order to find the total price, first find the amount of sales tax paid by multiplying the sales tax by the original price of the basket of nectarines. ${17\%} \times {$25} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $17\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{17}{100}$ which is also equal to $17 \div 100$ $17 \div 100 = 0.17$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. ${0.17} \times {$25} = {$4.25}$ Add the sales tax you just found to the original price to find the final price Vanessa paid. ${$4.25} + {$25.00} = $29.25$ Vanessa needs to pay $$29.25.$